A Game's Life
by Wixeron
Summary: Life is a miracle and that is especially true for videogame characters where they shouldn't be alive at all because of their circumstances. And yet even if they are alive, it is not easy to be someone or something beyond their code. A look at the life of videogame characters and what makes Litwak's arcade center special from the rest.


**Author's Note: **Hey readers! For those that followed me, I have a few words to say.. I'm sorry! I know I have been out for a long time. In fact, I was gone for a year!

But I was kinda busy as I continued my study and my thumbdrive that contains all of my precious data got hit by a virus. So yeah...all of it was lost including my fanfic data. Never stick your thumbdrive into a public computer!

Anyway, watched Wreck-It Ralph and I have to say, best movie of the year! It managed to make me cry manly tears, something that all 3 Toy Story movies failed to do! The story was deep and it wasn't just for kids. It somehow managed to make it applicable to adults too. Well, considering the writers...

Without further ado, this one-shot is about my theory on how the videogame characters can be alive, how not all videogame characters are considered alive and their difficulty in developing themselves over their "fate" or code.

Although it wasn't mentioned outright, Disney did showed that while it can be cool to be a videogame character, it isn't all sunshine. Videogame characters tend to be a slave to the players and to their code.

Anyway, on to the story! Oh and Happy New Year!

* * *

Life.

If you ask people what they think and not the definition of life, what do you think you will get for the answer?

Well, most of it would be that life is a miracle or even magic. It is something to be cherished and appreciated because it is so hard for one to bloom yet so easy to destroy in a matter of seconds.

Well, that notion can be considered true, because one would never expect for videogame characters to be alive considering its odds.

Mankind believes that for one to be alive, it has to be a biological being. Well, not all of them. Certain people like the computer scientist, sci-fi lovers and futurists believe that one day, computer constructs such as Artificial Intelligence or AI for short can be alive.

If not, there wouldn't be stories about AIs that believes it is a living being. One of the best examples is the Bicentennial Man.

But, if you ask the people that knows best about AI, they will tell you that the day when AIs can gain sentience and be considered a living being is very far away.

This is because it needs the right conditions, much like how biological beings need the right conditions to exist. For example, the Earth has just the right condition for life to exist on it. It wasn't too hot or cold. It has water and atmosphere to retain the water and air for biological creatures to breathe. Think about it; if Earth lacked just one of these conditions, life might not have existed at all.

And the same was true for AIs. In order for it to be alive, it requires a powerful software which makes its mind or soul if you will. Today, the best AIs in videogames are praised for its ability to follow its orders well, react and adapt to the player and sometimes do things that are unexpected. But then, the AIs wasn't still alive, because they just do what they were programmed to do well. They didn't break character, cry, and laugh or feel happy. They were still far away to achieve sentience or being alive.

A powerful hardware or the body is for the software is also required. And it made sense. Mankind was the dominant species on the planet because of our hardware, the human brain. If any other animal that has a brain as powerful as a human's, then things would go differently. The AIs, no matter how strong their software, is useless if it doesn't have a powerful hardware to run it. Imagine running a modern operating software on a 1940s computer.

But that's the strangest thing, because for some reason, videogames characters** can** be alive without a powerful software or hardware.

The best example would be the videogame characters on the arcade centers. Some of these arcades are old, from the 1980s where its characters have AIs with limited programming and their hardware isn't something you expect to be able to handle AIs that can feel sad and happiness.

But the characters are alive. They can feel sad, be happy and even fall in love! Life is magical after all.

However, just as biological creatures need the right conditions to be alive, so are the AIs.

In order to be alive, the AIs need to go through one condition; it must be left alone after its purpose is done and the console that contains them must be turned on.

The thing is, a videogame character is aware of their existence when you turn their console on. For example, take the Fix-It Felix Jr. game. You turn on the console and the characters will just…exist and they would know what they are and what their purpose is. This is because of their code or programming.

Fix-It Felix Jr. would know that his name is Fix-It Felix and that he has a magical hammer to fix the damages that Wreck-It Ralph did. His purpose it to let the players control him to fix things. Wreck-It Ralph's purpose is to cause damages to the Niceland apartment so Felix can fix it.

**... ****... ****...**

The world of Fix-It Felix Jr. brightened through the light coming out from their arcade console's screen, the screen that separates the world of biological beings and their digital world. The light from the screen wasn't enough to brighten the whole world, it never will. It only shone on the Niceland Apartment where the main game is going to take place and the rest of the world will have to make do with lamps and grainy stars from the dark sky.

Fix-It Felix came to existence from the east part of the game world away from the screen's view. After all, it wasn't time for him to come to view yet. Not until Wreck-It Ralph has made his intro and the Nicelanders called out to him.

It was a strange feeling; to just exist and know so much about what you are what you're supposed to do. He knew his name is Fix-It Felix Jr. and his purpose is to let the players control him and fix the damages that Ralph did. But, that's just it. Why is he Felix? Why must he fix things?

He couldn't really ponder about it much as it was time for him to show up. Grabbing the magical golden hammer and uttered his trademark "I can fix it!" cry, he then went to work. The player controlling him was rather bad and Ralph had down him before he can complete the repairs. The player then grunted in annoyance at the game and left. A few minutes later other players came and started the game and the whole process started again.

This was their routine; Wreck-It Ralph wrecks and Fix-It Felix Jr. fixes until the closing time. They then heard the owner's cry of closure and the players filed out of the arcade center. A few minutes later, the owner then went to every arcade console to put them in standby mode. Arcade console's that were put to standby mode had most of their systems shut down but not the system memory in order to preserve the player's scores. The game's world will…'sleep' and if the characters weren't outside the arcade console, they will 'sleep' too.

Felix glanced at his counterpart, the one that makes their game work, from the top of the apartment after the last player has won the level. "Well Ralph it has been a good day! See you tomorrow!"

Ralph grunted and got up from his mud puddle and waved at him and went to his stump. Felix then sighed as he looked at the game screen and wondered if this is all to his life. Just doing what he was coded to do and be a slave to the players. Sometimes he wondered why he even does what he did. Can he just…not fix? He then walked back to his starting position while still looking at the screen.

He envied the players. They have a choice. They can choose to play him or not. Him? If the players play, he has to oblige.

Felix then sighed again. How he wished he could go beyond the screen and be the players instead.

The owner then came to the screen of the game and put a hand on the joystick. "Well Felix, looks like this will be your last game," the owner then slotted in a quarter and prepared himself. "I have a new game coming in tomorrow and I have no space to put it. I will have to let you go because well…no one wants to play you anymore,"

The game then begins again and Felix began jumping and repairing damages while Ralph keeps wrecking. "I mean, this is the age of home entertainment! People rarely go to arcade centers anymore when they can just play their videogame console at home," the owner's body moved around like he was the character Felix fixing things.

Felix wondered why the owner was telling them this.

But, above all, he wondered why he didn't do anything. After all, this is his last moment of life. After this, he's going to…what happens to him after this? He didn't know.

Maybe, why he didn't do anything is because he didn't care anymore. It hurts to know and yet not able to do anything. To exist and yet, not being able to live.

But, even it he wanted to do something like run away...how far can he go? What can he do without being unplugged?

But it's alright. It won't matter anymore.

**... ****... ****...**

So, let's say that after you played the game. You then turn it off. To the characters inside the game, it is akin to going to sleep and then woke up when the players turn on the console again. The same thing then repeats itself and the characters weren't allowed to develop a character beyond their code. It is like working for most of the day and spends the rest of it sleeping. You didn't get to go out, do your hobbies and experience things beyond your work. Would you feel alive? Are you actually living?

There's no point in living if you don't feel alive.

But, if you left them alone and the console turned on, they will then have the freedom to experience things beyond their programming. At first, they won't know what to do, but then they will start to explore and develop their own characters.

It is like after a long 8 hours of work. You still have time before going to sleep. So what do you do?

In a way, that is why we don't hear about videogame characters being alive. Not much of them are given the chance.

However, the sad thing is, even if they are alive, they are not truly "free" as they were still governed by their code. The code after all is what makes them. Fix-It Felix Jr. is the hero because he was coded that way. Wreck-It Ralph has short temper because of his code.

In a way, it is similar to the question of "Nature vs. Nurture". Are you who you are because that is your nature regardless of your upbringing? Or are you who you are because of your upbringing? Are you a bully because you like to do it or because you had a rough upbringing?

To the videogame characters, it is harder because unlike humans, they just came to be with a preset characteristics ingrained to them. Breaking away from them to develop their own character is difficult.

Some choose to embrace their code.

**... ****... ****...**

In an arcade center, the arcade consoles weren't shutdown or left on standby. Instead, the owner figured that it was easier to just leave them open for the next day.

There were many game titles inside the center, even Pacman. On the center of the game screen where the ghost pen is, you can see a variety of characters that are not native to the game. Inside the game world, the Bad-Anon meeting is being held.

"Then I took the hammer from him and remind him that without his dad's magical hammer, he's nothing!" Wreck-It Ralph said while showing the members of the Bad-Anon the golden hammer in his hand. They then clapped and cheered at Ralph and he felt his chest swelled with pride.

"Nice Ralph! Way to show who's the one running the game, eh?" Satan said beside him and patted his shoulder.

"You should see the players that played me. Most of them didn't get through world 3!" Bowser said while stirring his coffee. "Bored me to hell!"

"Same here," Clyde, the leader of the group said. "My players couldn't get past a few levels before we cornered Pacman. Then they complained about the game being too hard! Can you believe that? Kids these days…videogames now days is all about gamer-friendly. Walk a few steps and checkpoint!"

The rest of the group voiced their agreement and other members began to talk about their experience and the bad things that they did to the protagonist of their games after the arcade has closed. Though the protagonists in the videogames would emerge victorious in the end, their success depends on the players and unfortunately, not many players could get very far into the game. That would mean the villains would win most of the time.

After a while and the other members don't have anything left to say, Clyde then decides to finish the meeting for today. "Alright everyone lets close up with the bad guy affirmation,"

Everyone then rose from their seat and hold hands and chanted their bad guy affirmation.

"I'm bad and that's good. I will never be good and that's not bad. There's no one I rather than me,"

Ralph smiled and felt good. He was the villain in his game and he loved it. It was in his code after all.

In the Grand Central Station, a depressed Fix-It Felix Jr. can be seen walking with his head down without his golden hammer. The other characters that passed by him can only give pitiful looks. It was a rule that one should not interfere with other game's affairs, or the same would be done to them. While the other game characters can help by confronting Ralph, no one wanted to be on his bad side or the wrath of the Bad-Anon for that matter.

Felix didn't watch where he was going until he hit someone and fall to his bottom. "Hey! Watch where you're going shortstack!" the person he hit said and Felix looked up to see a tall blonde woman in black power armor.

"Sorry Ma'am! I didn't see you there!" Felix said and bounced to his feet.

"Tch, obviously," Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun said and continued walking forward, knocking Felix to the side this time.

"Sorry again, Ma'am…"Felix said but his words was unheard by the Sergeant. "She sure is beautiful!" Felix said but then lowered his head. "But, she's rough too, almost like a female version of Ralph," at this thought Felix chuckled and walked away. "No. I don't need that. I need a nice feminine girl that can take care of me…"

Meanwhile the Sergeant reached her destination, Tappers, took a seat and ordered a root beer. She then began to drown it and ask for more. It would continue until there are a pile of empty mugs beside her. She then looked into her last mug and muttered a name, a name that she would never forget.

"Brad…" Calhoun gripped her mug tighter. "I'll never forgive those bugs!" the glass cracked. "And I'll never forget you…you're my only one,"

Hero's Duty was a new addition to the arcade center. The game was hard, and the fact that it requires eight quarters to play means that not many people got that far in the game. The game however wasn't a standard liner rail shooter game. Instead, the player can make choices such as which path to take. Their choices and performance would also ultimately affect the outcome of the game. One of the things that were affected is the fate Sargent Calhoun.

Today, her player was bad, yet he has enough cash to keep going. Because of his poor performance, only he and an injured Calhoun was left. She then remembered as she gave the player the order to leave her while she hold off the Cybugs. The player refuses but this is scripted so she has to give reason why she wanted to do it.

"_I blame myself after Brad was gone because I wasn't careful enough. I always ask myself, would Brad forgive me? My only apology to him is to kill a hell-lot of Cybugs before I meet him again. And now, I think I've killed more than enough and it's time for me to go and see him again. Don't worry Newbie, I always wanted this. Besides, it's better you, someone with future than me, a dead man walking to see another day,"_

_Sergent Calhoun then primed the explosive charges and pushed the recruit through the door. "You better fucking finish this fight! Or I'll come back and kick your ass to kingdom come!" _

_The door the closes and separates the veteran and the newbie._

The sad thing is that…there was no Brad after her sacrifice. Calhoun then gripped her mug even tighter and more cracks appear.

But that wasn't the worse outcome for Sergeant Calhoun. There's a scenario where she was captured by a Cybug and the player has to save her. Failure to do so would result in her being a Cybug and she would replace the final boss.

"_You made me into this! DIEE!" Cybug Calhoun would scream while shooting at the player._

"_I guess…it's karma, huh Newbie? I let Brad got eaten by a Cybug…huh, and now…the cycle is complete," Cybug Calhoun lay defeated and parts of her body started to disintegrate. "Now… I can finally meet Brad again. Thank you Newbie…no…you're a Hero now," Cybug Calhoun muttered her final words before she disintegrate completely._

Again, there's no Brad waiting for her and she crushed the mug in her hand. Fortunately, Tappers was loud enough to drown the sound of breaking glass and she was ignored. She looked into her hands at the broken pieces of glass and muttered Brad's name again.

She wanted to forget, but she can't. So she stopped trying to and accepts it. After all, it was in her code.

Apparently, having the most tragic backstory wasn't enough.

Meanwhile at the Sugar Rush game, a race was being held and Vanellope von Schweetz was not in a good mood. This is because the racer in front of her was good, really good.

The thing is, she's the best racer in the game! Well, excluding player skills that is. She's the princess of the game and she would be the boss of certain races if the players do well. So naturally she would have the best kart and has skills only she was privy too.

A lot of people called it "rubber banding" in which she would always be behind and near the players should they pass her. Even if players managed to get pass and leave her far, she would always close the gap again no matter how far or improbable and if they were careless, Vanellope would bypass them and leave them in the dust. Some would say that it was cheap but there are rare players that managed to win against her and felt that she was worth the challenge.

But, all of that was nothing against the white racer in front of her that goes by the name Turbo. Oh how Turbo makes her so mad! It didn't helped that he was from an old 8-bit racing game that was in 2D, he also kept saying "TURBO-TASTIC!" every while and then.

And if he wins…Mod, please! She didn't want to hear it!

"It's TURBO-TASTIC!" Turbo cried as he passed the finish line and Vanellope came in second, groaning all the while. "Winner…TURBO!" the Scoreboard announced.

Turbo parked his car at the sidelines and Vanellope and the other races soon joined them. Turbo and the rest then hopped out of his kart and gathered in front of him.

"Ohoho! That was a –"

"Noooo!"

"TURBO-TASTIC RACE!"

Vanellope and some other racers groaned. Tubo smiled at this and laughed. "You kids still has a loooong way to go before you can beat me!"

"I'll beat you someday!" Vanellope swore and huffed and Turbo chuckled while ruffling her hair.

"I know you will. But in the meantime, it's TURBOTIME!" Turbo chuckled again and the kids groaned again.

"Turbo! It's almost opening time! Don't you have to go back?" Taffyta asked and Turbo looked down and sighed.

"No…my game is getting unplugged kids," Turbo said sadly and at this the kids all swarmed him, even Vanellope.

"Noo! Don't go Turbo!"

"Why do they have to that?"

"Is it because of us?"

"Calm down kids! No, it's not your fault. I'm outdated and no one wants to play me. I'm surprised that I managed to last this long too," Turbo said and hugged the children.

"But…but where are you going to stay?" Candlehead asked. Vanellope answered for him though.

"You can stay with here, with us! That way you can race every day!" Vanellope offered and Turbo smiled.

"You would allow that? You wouldn't mind? After all, if I stay here you might lose every day!" Turbo said and Vanellope freed herself from Turbo's and crossed her arms and looked away.

"I wouldn't bet on that! But, I welcome the challenge anyway," Vanellope said and turned to look at Turbo.

Turbo smiled even wider and ruffled Vanellope's hair again, much to her chagrin. "Thanks kids. Well, looks like Turbo won't be going anywhere!" he said and the kids cheered.

**... ****... ****...**

But, some choose to go against their code and make their own path and self.

**... ****... ****...**

"But here's the thing…I don't wanna be the bad guy anymore," Ralph said and the whole Bad-Anon gasped in shock.

"You can't mess with the program Ralph," Cyborg said.

**...**

"Turbo!" Ralph said at the Turbo turned Cybug in front of him.

"Because of you Ralph, I'm now the most powerful virus in the arcade!" Turbo exclaimed. The two characters faced each other; one who is a villain but now turned hero and the other was once a hero but became the villain.

**...**

"Felix! I never thought that you and that Sergeant would actually get married!" Gene, one of the Nicelanders said. "Actually, no one in the arcade thought of that actually," he then took a sip of his martini.

Felix sighed and brought his cap to his chest with a dreamy look on his face. "Yeaaah. Am I lucky or what? Oh wait, I am THE luckiest guy in the arcade!"

Gene shook his head at the love struck boy. He thought that Felix would pick someone nice heck maybe one of the Nicelander women. He never thought that Felix would pick someone so…opposite.

Well, it's not for him to decide.

**...**

Calhoun looked at her soon-to-be husband and smiled. Felix smiled back and Calhoun's man all trained their weapon at the church's glass window to make sure no Cybug would dare ruin the most important day to their Sergeant.

Brad wasn't real. He's just a memory coded into her. He's not here and he while never be. But Felix, he's real, he's here and he's here to stay. She will make sure of that.

**...**

"So this is the real you," Ralph said to the transformed Vanellope. Vanellope turned around with difficulty at her best friend.

"Oh Ralph, what are ya, nuts? Come on, this isn't me," Vanellope said and glitched out of her princess dress.

"This is me," she gestured to her normal green attire.

"Huh?" was Ralph's reply and Vanellope put her hands in her pockets.

"Look, the code may say I'm a princess, but I know who I really am Ralph. I'm a racer with the greatest superpower ever!" Vanellope said and started to glitched away.

**... ****... ****...**

Of course, you can't deny that Nurture still has a large part in making you who you are. But even though it might decide what you are, it doesn't decide who you are.

The code decides what the character is, but it doesn't necessarily decide who they are or who they want to be.

**... ****... ****...**

It's game over for both of you!" Turbo said gleefully.

"No," Ralph said with determination as he turned to look at Turbo Cybug one last time. "Just for me!" he then breaks free and plummets to the top of Diet Cola Mountain.

Ralph then aimed his left fist at the mountain and prepared himself for his Game Over.

They said that when you are about to die, your life flashes over your eyes. And it way, it was true for Wreck-It Ralph as he began to remember important moments in his life. One particular moment he remembered was at the Bad-Anon meeting.

"_And I say Zangief; you are bad guy, but this does not mean you are bad guy?"_ Ralph chuckled inwardly at Zangief's attempt to convince him to stay true to his program. At first, he didn't understood what Zangief meant at first.

"**I'm bad,"** Ralph began his affirmation as a bad guy once again.

"_But we can't change who we are. The sooner you accept that, the better off your game and your life would be," _Clyde the ghost said and Ralph at that time couldn't accept it. For 30 long years he accepted that but look what it got him?

"**And that's good!"** Ralph continued.

"_Zangief saying, labels not make you happy. Good! Bad! Ungngh! You must love you," _Zombie said before Cyborg proceeded to tear his hear out.

"_Yeah! Inside here!" _Cyborg showed Zombie's heart to a disgusted Ralph.

Ralph chuckled inwardly again and funnily enough, it was Zombie's words that made sense of Zangief's statement before.

"**I'll never be good," **

Now that he thinks about it, wasn't it because of what Ralph is that allowed him to meet and help Vanellope?

"_Hey! We shook on it," _Vanellope crossed her arms and looked crossed. Ralph sighed and punched the door open.

"_MIXING!"_

"_No! You're getting all the wrong stuff kid!"_

"_I'm trying!"_

"_Urgh! I'll do it!"_

"_Congratulations! You did it! And here's your kart!"_

_A mocking tune is played and the kart rolled out amongst the garbage._

"_Aiyaiyai…look kid, I tried to warn ya, I don't make things I just break-"_

"_I love it,"_

"_If you're gonna be a racer, you have to learn how to drive. And you can't do that…without a track,"_

"_I'm gonna learn how to drive, I'm gonna learn how to drive!"_

Ralph smiled at the memory. It was the best memory of his strength being appreciated.

"**And that's not bad"**. He then looked at the self-made medal given to him. Sure it's not a shiny medal made of solid gold, but it worth more than thousands of shiny medals combined.

"**There's no one I rather be…"**

"_Turn it over. I made it for you," Vanellope said and Ralph's eyes widened at what was written on the pastry medal, 'You're My Hero'._

_Although Vanellope didn't say it, its effect was still the same._

Vanellope turned her head to look at Ralph and sadly said, _"You really are a bad guy,"_

If anyone were to say that to him before, he would get mad and deny it. But now…

"**but me,"** Ralph finished and he gripped his medal with his right hand to shield it from harm and readied his eft fist again but this time, with more determination as the white mentos top that was blocking mouth of Diet Cola Mountain rushed at him with frightening speed.

"_Turns out I don't need a medal to tell me I'm a good guy. Cause if that little kid likes me…how bad can I be?"_

* * *

**Author's Note again: **Alright! Hope You enjoy it! Oh for those that followed my Naruto story, don't worry, it is not forgotten and will be continued.

Oh and I have** a new story idea for a Wreck-It Ralph** fanfic! It was inspired by the the story "The Talk" by jazzpha. Go and read it! ******  
**

**Here's the story preview...**

* * *

"And that's how Ralphie saved the whole arcade from the Cybug!" Vanellope finished her story as she stood on her seat.

Calhoun sighed as Vanellope finally finished telling the story. Truth is, she wasn't much of a story teller because most of the words that'll come out of her mouth can be hard to swallow so she's grateful for Vanellope telling the story.

Not like she had a choice. Vanellope vetoed for who get to tell the story.

"Oh wow, what a wonderful story!" Peach said and clapped.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Vanellope bowed to the members of the Damsel-Not! club.

The Damsel-Not! Is actually a club for female videogame characters that...well like the name suggests; doesn't want to be a damsel in distress anymore. Of course the members consists of tough female characters like Samus Aran, almost all of the female from fighting games actually, and surprisingly even characters that are damsels themselves like Princess Peach.

Actually, the club is now more of a "all girls only" club because its only concrete rule of joining is that you have to be a female videogame character. About the damsel thingy...well it is bad to judge people by their roles as there are characters that doesn't want to be defined be their role, like Princess Peach. She might be a damsel in game but outside...let's just say that Bowser had managed to rub on her a bit.

So, because of this, the club received MANY admissions from almost all the female videogame characters in the arcade center!

"Oh and Fix-it and Sargent I'm-Too-Tough-For-Love is an iteeemmm," Vanellope pointed at Calhoun with a huge grin.

Calhoun was surprised by this and lunged at Vanellope who glitched out of reach. "Why you little cavity-inducing-"

The whole crowd, and yes, crowd because of the many members of the club; gasped. "You and that blue Mario?" Nina said.

"Hey watch it lady!" Calhoun glared at her. "He's no plumber! No offence honey-peach," Calhoun waved at Peach.

"None taken," Peach smiled. "So, tell us about it!" she said happily and clapped her hand together.

Calhoun grumbled and ruffled her hair before glaring at Vanellope who was now sitting at Peach's lap.

"Aww come on Sergent Grumpy! It's not like you can keep it quiet for long!" Vanellope grinned.

"I could have if you didn't know about it!" Calhoun said through gritted teeth.

Vanellope stuck out her tongue at her. "Watch it lady, if got a hold of that tongue-"

"Ahem," Peach coughed and Calhoun relaxed and sighed.

"Well..." Calhoun started.

* * *

Here it is! Hope you're interested for more of this story! Oh and Ralph will be paired in this story with a non-OC videogame character. With who you wonder? Well, see if you can guess it!

Alright, Read and Review Readers!


End file.
